Some Comments on Risk-Based End States & Contaminated Site Cleanup

1. Some Comments on Risk-Based End States & Contaminated Site Cleanup Session 17 Waste Management 2004 Tucson, Arizona March 2, 2004 Charles W. Powers, PI CRESP II

4. Selected elements

5. But RBES is Today (& in this session) a Lightening Rod Sites are at very different places in the cleanup/completion process and the state of the process Is viewed differently by different parties: Close to closure; don’t disturb; agreements in place (Regulators and some Stakeholders) Almost No sites closed; mostly interim agreements (TTBR, DOE) 2000, 2006, 2015. 2025, 2035 And parties are energetically using same words to describe different phenomena Variances (from final RODs; interim ROD’s; discussed approaches PMP’s, Site Baselines, what?) Balancing from what? Balancing Criteria, Cost/Protection Balancing and Risk Balancing Adequate Public Interaction how much/at what point?

6. RCRA AEA State Laws & ARAR’s State Regulators E&H CERCLA EPA DNFSB NEPA Natural Resource Trustees NRC Adjacent State Regulators Local/Regional Gov’ts/Boards A Very Rich Regulatory Mix

7. Risk-Based?: it is not so easy even within CERCLA Nine CERCLA Criteria for Remedy Selection Threshold Criteria Protection of Health and Environment ARAR’s (unless waived*) Balancing Criteria Long-term effectiveness/permanence Reduction of toxicity/mobility/or volume through treatment Short-term effectiveness – adverse impacts on health/environment during implementation of remedy Implementability/feasibility Cost (including capital, O&M, NPW costs) Modifying Crtiteria State Acceptance Community Acceptance EPA’s Genl & CERCLA Risk Assessment Guidleines Exposure Assessments and Land Use Points of Compliance eg., for MCL’s MEI’s in RME Scenarios Risk Range (cancer/noncancer) Deterministic/Probabilistic RA’s Relationship of Baseline to Post- Remedy Assessments * Specific procedures

8. The Related Law Core ARAR’s Protection of Health and Environment Long-term effectiveness/permanence Short-term effectiveness – adverse impacts on health/environment during implementation of remedy Reduction of toxicity/mobility/or volume through treatment Implementability/feasibility Cost (including capital, O&M, NPW costs) The How to do it Core ----- Balancing ----- Balancing State Acceptance Community Acceptance The Risk Core Threshold Balancing Modifying Public Involvement Acceptance Core

9. RBES Scenarios in the Context of Land Use Receptor B ecological L O Hazard Receptors C public,worker,eco K Receptor E public D D ? Receptor ILUCS? Monitoring? Failure Analysis? worker C. Powers Developed by Charles W. Powers

10. Unanimity on one issue: It is a major advanced to have common maps and CSM’s through which to understand sites from which to be able to compare current and risk-based end-state scenarios

11. But Risk-Based EndStates Flows too easily; it is a complicated concept – We have to understand the relationship Between the adjective and the noun Risk - Based End States Probability – consequence sustainable and sustained

12. Looking at the present from the end-state future - a refreshing new start but completely unrealistic as a stand alone approach? CRESP to the BRWM – August 2001 Developed by Charles W. Powers

13. That is not a rhetorical question What would we have to have to define and support risk-based end-states? We would Possess: An ability to have adequately characterized the contamination, to have forecast goals for remediation effectiveness, linked those goals to a monitored future use, and then forecast the controls needed to anticipate failure, to secure the blocked pathway and to monitor performance and assure long-term oversight as required Adequate Characterization Institutional Controls Institutional Controls Monitoring and FA Monitoring Remediation Goals Future use Future use End End - - State State We think these are the basic elements – and they are not yet achieved Developed by Charles W. Powers

14. What Remedy Best Achieves A Risk-based End State? Vision Document Guidance directs sites to define risk-based end states that are sustainably protective of human health and the environment. Developed by Charles W. Powers

15. If the wastes at DOE’s EM sites were not currently addressed by active systems of controls, barriers and protections, they individually and collectively would pose a VERY substantial Risk to the public, workers and the environment But because risks at these sites are Actively managed, albeit through an enormously costly set of measures (many of which are inefficient, contradictory and short-term), the current Risk posed by DOE sites is quite low RBES: Why Sustainable Solutions for DOE Cleanup are essential? Risk Very High Safe, Protective Today is there a crisis? Time Today Duration of Persistent Hazards This graphic grew out of discussions between Paul Golan (DOE-EM) and Chuck Powers (CRESP)

16. Yet even this system will become progressively more Risky over time even as DOE’s land needs retract Unless Made Sustainably Protective RBES: Why Sustainable Solutions for DOE Cleanup are essential? But: 1) the current system is not sustainable w/o remedial planning designed for long-term protection as DOE reduces its footprint Risk Very High Safe, Protective those systems are in place so the situation today is Currently Protective 2003 2015 2030 2130 Time This graphic grew out of discussions between Paul Golan (DOE-EM) and Chuck Powers (CRESP)

17. Too much effort being given to short-term interim solutions but RBES: Why Sustainable Solutions for DOE Cleanup are essential? And : 2) major national investment in this cleanup will atrophy; yet current (expensive) interim measures yield partial cleanup not sustainability Risk Current Situation, but for the “mitigation systems” at many DOE sites Very High Safe, Protective And, in fact, the actual situation today is Currently Safe NOT Sustainably Safe Ones 2003 2015 2030 2300 Time Developed by Charles W. Powers

18. 100 50 Compliance/Risk Objectives 0 Interim 1 Interim 2 Interim 3 ? Efficiency-Focused on Well-characterized and Defined Goals Developed by Charles W. Powers Two Approaches to Risk Reduction Separate Step-by-Step Reduction w/ no Final Goals Specified Lost in the process? ? End state

19. The Related Law Core ARAR’s Protection of Health and Environment Long-term effectiveness/permanence Short-term effectiveness – adverse impacts on health/environment during implementation of remedy Reduction of toxicity/mobility/or volume through treatment Implementability/feasibility Cost (including capital, O&M, NPW costs) The How to do it Core State Acceptance Community Acceptance The Risk Core This is what the CRESP Review Committee had in mind. It is important that it remain focused Threshold Balancing Modifying Public Involvement Acceptance Core